My Take on "Join The Conversation"

I'll say it up front for clarity-sake, I liked Jaffe's book, especially the case studies and the section on partnerships. I bought the book last year before my vacation so I could have the time to read and digest it. I also liked Jaffe's writing style -- easy and (dare I say?) conversational.

Rather than doing a chapter by chapter review, which many have already done or are in the process of doing, I will build on its premise and touch on a couple of highlights.

[In case you think of asking, no I am not one of the faces on the cover.]

A few notes on the premise

Ninety percent of advertising is crap (as quoted from Lee Clow) -- that's because ninety percent of advertising is created by committee without a reality check. Very few companies test creative and even fewer take a leap of faith on behalf of their audiences. And in this light the two distinctions:

Communication -- the very distinct process of marketer-generated or -initiated messaging, often without any concern or consideration for the intended recipient. It's one way, unidirectional, and carefully controlled in its implementation.

Conversation -- a two-way dialogue or a stream messaging between two or more parties with like-minded or shared beliefs, wants, needs, passions, or interests. It's organic, nonlinear, unpredictable and natural.

Communication got that way because there is no feedback loop in organizations and no testing or research to find out what people are concerned about. Not anymore and certainly not these days. Budget cuts, skeleton staffing issues, and the excuse of needing to move fast all have contributed to this state of affairs. Do you see a trend here?

Is it Either/Or or And/And?

So my question to you all is -- is conversation, and social media, supposed to fix the void left by lack of commitment to adequate promotions budgets, research, staffing, product support for the intended marketplace, development, distribution network, and on and on? Is it?

Conversation is great if you've covered your basics. If you're watering your garden, but have not planted enough bulbs because you've cut back, should you expect that watering extra hard will grow the same number of plants as last year? Of course not, but you may find some extra weeds.

Covering your basics is the wellspring of conversation because if you've not gotten your basics covered, you've got nothing to talk about. Traditional marketing isn't broken if it's done right. Skipping a well thought out, integrated marketing strategy in favor of applying any kind of mantra -- whether that be conversation or social media -- is a recipe for failure.

The Tot 3 Priorities of CEOs are Also Mine

Jaffe concludes the chapter that sets the tone to the rest of the book with the finding of a 2004 study by the Association of National Advertisers. I might be in a minority, but the top 3 for CEOs are also mine:

1. Creating sustainable competitive differentiation and advantage
2. Maintaining corporate growth
3. Staying close to the company's customers

Let's start by creating products and services the market wants and needs -- outside-in vs. inside-out conversations with the marketplace that lead to connections. Let's decide to fund and not starve our growth initiatives with laser focus and commitment. Customer service is everyone's business, especially that of marketing and public relations.

If you promise to do that, the rest of the book will give you some good ideas on how to build on your basics in this new age of empowered consumers.

Notable Thoughts

• Marketing is not a formula, and certainly not one that deals in the commoditized and oversimplified 4 Ps -- Product, Place, Price, and Promotion. Say hello to the six Cs -- Content. Commerce, Community, Context (I just dug a bit deeper on context in viral marketing), Customization, and Conversation. Let' not forget the customer, too.

• Challenges for companies -- talent, culture, metrics. Systems should serve the people they were created to serve, not the other way around. When was the last time conversation was productive in your organization? Can you hope to do outside what you cannot do with each other?

• Brands today are the community that keeps them -- reputation is vital and very visible.

• Partnership is about access -- I say give access to your full employee base with care-and-share vs. command-and-control. Your first community is right there, inside your organization. Why not listen? Why not pay attention?

• Unless you're Neil Armstrong, you're not going to achieve exponential results by taking incremental steps. When you're ready to experiment, use social media yourself and work with people who do it -- nothing teaches you what it feels like to participate like participation itself.

I said before that companies (and the people inside them) have been used to creating the conversation, not joining one already created about them. Be prepared to make mistakes and remember that if you're not making any, you're playing it too safe to change the game. The companies that will succeed tomorrow, are not afraid to put skin in the game, are you?

Comments

[Cam Beck]

"Ninety percent of advertising is crap"

That might be too generous to the advertising industry.

[Valeria Maltoni]

Consider that the comments comes from the Chairman of TBWA/Chiat Day ;-)

[Jerry Johnson]

Valeria,

The way I see it, the challenge that most organizations have with a conversational approach to communication is that (a) you have to listen; and (b) it is a lot of work. And if I have to add a (c) -- which I do because I know as a communications person all things come in threes -- then the (c) would be that there's still scant evidence that the investment in (a) and (b) which translate into a lot of time and money will result in maintaining corporate growth.

Add them all up and there's a reason companies and organizations don't "Join The Conversation."

As I see it, the biggest challenge is that of "intention." There's a presumption that organizations actually want to have a conversation. In my experience most don't. Most just want a sale, not an experience. And that makes all the difference.

Indeed, those folks are better left out of the conversation.

Best,

Jerry

[Valeria Maltoni]

Or as I sometimes put it, "can't handle the truth"! You're quite correct in your assessment. Doing things a certain way requires time, effort, care (dare I say love?) and humility (to really hear the feedback), all of which are in scarce supply today.

Yes, the first imperative is making money. You see, companies want a sale, yet people want an experience. That's where the money is increasingly ;-)

[Tim Brunelle]

Good question: "...is conversation, and social media, supposed to fix the void left by lack of commitment to adequate promotions budgets, research, staffing, product support for the intended marketplace, development, distribution network, and on and on?"

Any port in a storm? Or perhaps the current appeal of Conversation/SM is a sense that it's somehow easier.

But you're right on the money in saying, "Covering your basics is the wellspring of conversation because if you've not gotten your basics covered, you've got nothing to talk about."

Conversation is earned. Conversation requires a foundation.

[Valeria Maltoni]

I continue to be amazed by agencies that recommend Social Media as an easy and quick way to get attention. Agencies where nobody has a blog... then again there are plenty of people dispensing advice they do not take themselves.

It is not easy, it's not quick, and it requires a significant commitment to doing the right thing vs. doing all the right things... there's a difference.

[Richard Becker]

Oh my word. If the premise is "Communication is the ... yada, yada, as stated" then no wonder it doesn't work for some folks.

Who are these "people" who treat communication this way? If that is the premise then it is too far overreaching of a statement to move much beyond that. It would like declaring all radio advertising dead because your client wanted to buy 20 :30 spots against 2,000 and a station endorsement.

Some of the other points have merit, but more importantly I cannot thank you enough for cutting to the heart of the work. It make a difference. And it's appreciated.

All my best,
Rich

[Valeria Maltoni]

Clearly, I believe there is a comprehensive strategy that has a place in it for many of the traditional or core marketing tactics. Not all customers really want to talk with you, many never do and of those who do, some do it only when pressed.

And there is still a need for leadership and guidance as well as experience cultivated in having worked it and lived it. If anything for context.

[Richard Becker]

I agree with you Valeria. If all people wanted a conversation, then every post would have a higher percentage of comments in relation to readership, but that is not reality.

Sometimes I think what some new media proponents miss is that copywriters and others, meaning some of the greats, always considered great copy to be a conversation. It touches people, engages people, and changes behavior as a what is defined as a "new conversation" might. It always considered the intended recipient. It often started with copywriters not writing to mass audiences but a reasonably defined set of people with similar tastes, demographics, travel preferences, etc.

It was not all unlike a blog post, usually written to appeal to a broader audience that feels as if they were being spoken to on a personal level, with the only real difference being that comment sections provides an immediate feedback mechanism as opposed to a response that requires the reader to pick up the phone or drive to the store and engage the professional or employee or clerk in a conversation that, better than a comment, is face to face.

Sure, I am a fan of integrating the conversation, blogs, social media, and social networks into the communication stream. I guess where sometimes I raise questions or objections is when a premise misdefines communication, hijacks an element of it, and then lays claim to it as if it is a new idea that was somehow missed for generations.

Right, some social media experts, and I would include you in this assessment, have laid real groundwork. Others, I sometimes wonder if they are offering up ideas that are not really true or simply repackaged goods as seems to the case with this premise.

Best,
Rich

[Valeria Maltoni]

You will not get any objections to great writing as window to the soul *and* reason for action from me. I'm a Liberal Arts major ;-)

The triggers differ for all of us-- and that is why we learn about behavior and attempt to capture feedback -- the best of both being paying attention to the person in front of you. Thinking about and writing for that person is one of the best compliments and services one can give.

We keep saying that we are customers as well as stockholders and business providers. I do wonder if we really, really put ourselves in those roles to capture what the people on the other side of the conversation think, feel, want. Skilled communicators tend to do that really well.

[Richard Becker]

Absolutely true. I spend a good amount of time not only having conversations with those who make up the communication/marketing/public relations sphere of social media (people who claim to know) but everyday independent bloggers (people who don't know, but do) that do not subscribe to this rule or that. The conversations are very different; and sometimes they convince me that some experts do not always consider who they pretend to know about, meaning the participants in social media.

I did not have it last night, but wanted to share a quote I am including in a upcoming post. It demonstrates just how long the concept of "conversation" has been around. I hope you enjoy it.

“Copy is a direct conversation with the consumer." — Shirley Polykoff (1908-1998), best known for building the Clairol hair-coloring industry.

[Valeria Maltoni]

There is also something else I've been thinking about along those same lines. You know when someone is trying too hard what happens? The listening is not built in. I don't mean that literally, just there's little space for it. The whole mind and activity is wrapped around *doing* (saying, demonstrating, etc.)

Communication takes time because first you open the channels. Permission marketing is not new -- it's the concept of opening channels.

[Richard Becker]

Did you say something? I was trying to prove a point. j/k

That is a good point. I think it's one of the reasons that brands are so important. A great brand relationship opens such channels over time, eventually leaving us more receptive to new messages from that source. Very excellent.